By Christina Pappous, Walt Disney Archives
“You… doing that thing you do…!” Thirty years ago this month, Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, That Thing You Do!, arrived in theaters. Released by 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) on October 4, 1996, the film performed modestly at the box office upon its debut, but in the decades since, it has developed into a fan favorite thanks to its catchy title song, quotable dialogue, and terrific cast—among the other things it does! To celebrate 30 years of this most wonderful film, we’ve pulled some special assets from the Walt Disney Archives to share!
Written and directed by—as well as starring—Hanks, That Thing You Do! follows the rise and fall of the Wonders (originally the Oneders), a fictional band from Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1964. Hanks wrote the script after drawing inspiration from the stories of Jimmie Nicol, the drummer who briefly replaced an ailing Ringo Starr during one of the Beatles’ international tours, as well as the experiences of real one-hit-wonder bands, whom Hanks described as having “had a big hit, and they probably thought they were hot stuff, and then it was over. So the concept emerged as a rock band that changes their drummer and has one big hit.”
Casting the Wonders proved to be an interesting challenge for Hanks, particularly the lead role of drummer Guy Patterson. Hanks remarked, “Guy Patterson was probably the hardest to cast... a lot of guys came in and played attitude, but Guy is not a person who has any attitude. [...] When Tom Everett Scott read for the part, I thought, ‘I can’t hire this guy, he looks too much like me at the same age. But he read for it, and in the course of the reading, he was the first person to 100% understand Guy Patterson’s level of contentment.” Johnathon Schaech, who ended up portraying Jimmy Mattingly, the lead singer of the Wonders, arrived at his audition “wearing a white shirt and a skinny tie, with his hair either cut or combed into a very Mersey-beatish kind of thing... I knew he had done his homework. He read a scene in which Jimmy quits the band and brought something very new to the part,’’ as Hanks recalled. Steve Zahn read for and was cast as Lenny Haise, the wisecracking lead guitarist, while Ethan Embry—reading for the role of The Bass Player—had to read a page of Guy Patterson’s dialogue, as Hanks had yet to write any dialogue for The Bass Player.
Since Hanks had prioritized acting abilities over musical experience while casting the film, the four actors making up the Wonders underwent a rigorous but enjoyable process of learning their respective instruments and rehearsing the songs in the weeks leading up to production. Only Embry had prior experience playing guitar—but by the end of rehearsals, the four of them became, in the words of Schaech, “a rock group.” Producer Jonathan Demme remarked that seeing the actors perform together was like “seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show... it was just extraordinary to see this amazing group. You fall in love with every one of them.”
One of the film’s most important elements is, of course, the music, particularly the songs performed by the Wonders. There were more than 300 submissions for the titular song, “That Thing You Do!,” but it was the late Adam Schlesinger’s indelible submission that ended up as the one Hanks “couldn’t get out of his head.” Notably, each time the song is heard in the film, it is slightly different.
From its first iteration as a slow ballad to the upbeat rocker recorded in Uncle Bob’s church studio, “That Thing You Do!” evolves as the Wonders go from performing at their local college talent show to being featured in the Play-Tone Galaxy of Stars State Fair tour after they are signed on by Mr. White (Hanks). The song itself was a huge hit outside of the film, charting in real life and earning a nomination for Best Original Song at the 1997 Academy Awards®.
Producer Gary Goetzman recalled that Hanks “wanted every piece of music to be original—written and performed specifically for the movie” and was heavily involved in the process of building the musical world of the film, writing songs performed by the artists of the fictitious Play-Tone recording company, such as “Hold My Hand, Hold My Heart” (evocative of the girl groups of the 1960s like the Ronettes and the Supremes) and “Mr. Downtown” by Freddy Fredrickson (a riff on crooners of the era, like Dean Martin).
Production began in November 1995 in the city of Orange, California (just a short drive from Disneyland!). The film’s art department took advantage of the city’s historic core, transforming the storefronts and streets into the town of Erie, Pennsylvania, the hometown of the Wonders. Goetzman noted that Hanks “had very specific ideas that the story should have a visual trajectory... in the beginning, it would be very static, and as we moved cross-country into state fairs and Hollywood, there would be a gradual change in color and motion.” Designed by future Disney Legend Colleen Atwood, the Wonders’ costumes also reflect this visual trajectory, from the mismatched suits they don for the Mercyhurst College talent show to the vibrant red suits worn as they rock through the state fairs on the Play-Tone Galaxy of Stars tour.
While the Wonders may have ended up being only one-hit wonders, That Thing You Do! has continued to delight viewers over the past thirty years. We hope you have enjoyed this look back at the beloved film through the collections of the Walt Disney Archives!
That Thing You Do! is currently available on a variety of streaming and home entertainment platforms.